Amazon Kindle, UK

Friday, 24 June 2011

With the reputation of the Calvinist denominations for joyless puritansism, and the assumption that homosexuality is necessarily sinful, to find that among the leading Calvinist reformers of Switzerland was a pastor who is said to have had a male lover.

Théodore De Bèsze, born at Vezelay (8 miles west-south-west of Avallon), in Burgundy, settled at Geneva, where he worked with Calvin, and succeeded him in 1564, as head of the reformed church at Geneva, a post he resigned in 1600. He wrote in defence of the burning of Servetus (1554), translated the New Testament into Latin, and presented in 1581 a 5th century Graeco-Latin manuscript of the Gospels and the Acts, the Codex Bezae, to Cambridge university.

His lover was Audebert. He published a collection of Latin poems, a book of amorous verse, Juvenilia (1548), which made him famous, and he was everywhere considered one of the best Latin poets of his time. In a poem in this collection, De sua in Candidam et Audebertum benevolentia he tells he is uncertain if to hug his friend Audebert or his friend Candida... and he concludes he embraces both of them, even though he prefers Audebert.

Thursday, 23 June 2011

Alan Turing led the British codebreaking team that broke the German Enigma Code, thereby shortening World War II, saving many lives, and helping the Allies to win the war. Turing is considered the father of computer science.

"I believe that at the end of the [20th] century . . . one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted."

Alan Turing was by nature skeptical and indifferent to conventional values. While often at odds with authority, he made remarkable connections between apparently unrelated areas of inquiry, including treating symbolic logic as a new area of applied mathematics.

As a fellow at King's College, Cambridge, Turing wrote "On Computable Numbers," his landmark paper published in 1936, which is considered the founding work of modern computer science. After completing doctoral work at Princeton University, Turing returned to Britain in 1938 shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Turing potential ability as a code breaker had been identified at and he had been introduced to the secret operations at the Government Codes and Ciphers School in London. On September 4, 1939, the day after Britain declared war on Germany, Turing reported to work at Bletchley Park, Britain's code breaking center.

At the conclusion of the war, Turing's ambition was to create a computer, but the classified status of his wartime work prevented him from realizing that dream. His contention that the computer could rival the computing power of the human brain correctly anticipated the field of Artificial Intelligence. In the postwar years, Turing competed as a distance runner, reaching near-Olympic times in the marathon. Asked why he engaged in such demanding training, Turing replied, " I have such a stressful job that the only way I can get it out of my mind is by running hard." '

Alan Turing lived at a time when homosexuality was regarded as a mental illness and homosexual acts were illegal. Despite his critical wartime role, when his relationship with a Manchester man became public, he was charged with "gross indecency" and forced to accept hormone treatment with estrogen. He also lost his security clearance and was no longer able to work as a cryptographer.

Turing died in 1954 shortly before his 42nd birthday after eating a cyanide-laced apple. His death was ruled a suicide.

“The heterosexuality or homosexuality of many individuals is not an all-or-none proposition.”

Alfred Kinsey is known as the father of sexology. His groundbreaking and controversial research on human sexuality profoundly influenced social and cultural values.

Kinsey grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey, the oldest of three children in a devoutly religious home. His father was a strict disciplinarian and insisted the family attend church every Sunday.

In 1916, Kinsey graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin College with degrees in biology and psychology. In 1919, he earned his doctorate in biology from Harvard University.

In 1920, Indiana University hired Kinsey as an assistant professor of zoology. The following year, Kinsey married Clara McMillen. The couple had four children.

Kinsey’s first 20 years of research focused on the study of gall wasps. His research methodology, which made an important contribution to entomology, carried over into his later research on human sexual behavior.

In 1940, as part of a marriage course he was teaching, Kinsey began conducting research on sexual behavior. Thereafter, Kinsey worked exclusively on his research. He and his staff conducted over 18,000 interviews. Kinsey published “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male” (1948), followed by “Sexual Behavior in the Human Female” (1953).

The two books, known as the “Kinsey Reports,” became best sellers and sparked a firestorm of controversy. Kinsey became an overnight celebrity, with articles about him in Time, Life, Look and McCall’s. Kinsey’s work planted the seed for the sexual revolution of the 1960’s.

Kinsey’s findings on homosexuality were among the most widely discussed. His studies found that 37% of American men had at least one homosexual experience. Kinsey devised a scale measuring sexual orientation, now known as the Kinsey Scale. The scale ranges from 0 to 6, with 6 designating someone exclusively homosexual, and 0 signifying someone exclusively heterosexual.

In 1947, Kinsey founded the Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction at Indiana University—now the Kinsey Institute—one of the leading academic centers on human sexuality.

Monday, 20 June 2011

“I want people to know they don’t have to live their lives in a permanent ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ existence. Truth is a powerful tool.”

E. Lynn Harris is one of the nation’s most popular authors. Considered a literary pioneer, Harris introduced millions of readers to characters rarely seen in literature—black gay men who are affluent, complex and sometimes troubled. With 10 consecutive New York Times best sellers, he remains one of the most successful African-American novelists.

Harris was born Everette Lynn Jeter in Flint, Michigan, to unmarried parents. At age 3, Everette moved with his mother to Little Rock, Arkansas. Everette's surname was changed to Harris after his mother married Ben Harris. When Everette was 13, his mother divorced his stepfather, who had abused the boy for years.

Harris attended the University of Arkansas. In 1977, he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. Harris was the school’s first black cheerleader.

After graduation, Harris worked as a sales executive for IBM, eventually settling in Atlanta. He remained in the closet for many years, which led to depression, heavy drinking and a suicide attempt in 1990. Writing helped him find the will to live.

His first novel, “Invisible Life” (1991), was self-published and quickly rose to the top of the Blackboard Bestseller List of African-American titles. Harris sold the books door-to-door from the trunk of his car to local beauty salons and bookstores. After the success of his first book, Doubleday signed Harris and became his long-term publishing company.

" 'Invisible Life' had to be the first book out of me,” Harris said. “It helped me deal with my own sexuality.”

Harris wrote more than a dozen novels and paved the way for the next generation of African-American novelists. His books are accessible to the masses and appeal to a diverse audience. Harris always made time for his fans, whom he said changed his life. He would answer up to 200 e-mails from readers every day.

Harris received numerous awards. His honors include three Blackboard Novel of the Year Awards, the James Baldwin Award for Literacy Excellence and three nominations for NAACP Image Awards.

Harris died from heart disease. “People loved him,” said Tina McElroy Ansa, a fellow author and friend. “A spirit of joy followed him through his life.”

Sunday, 12 June 2011

Henry Scott Tuke, RA RWS, was a British visual artist; primarily a painter, but also a photographer. His most notable work was in the Impressionist style, and he is probably best known for his paintings of nude boys and young men, some of which are featured below/

Henry Scott Tuke was born in York, England, of Quaker parents. In 1874 he moved with his family to London. Here he enrolled at the Slade School of Art and won a three-year scholsrship.

The Bathers

In 1880 he traveled to Italy, and from 1881 to 1883 lived in Paris. In 1883 he moved to the fishing village of Newlyn in Cornwall, where he became a founder of the Newlyn School, but in 1885 he settled in another Cornish town, Falmouth, where he was to live for the rest of his life.

Ruby, Gold and Malachite

Tuke was an accomplished portritist and mantained a studio in London. His sitters included the soldier and author T.E. Lawrence. He was also the grand master of romantic boy painting, and was almost obsessed with the painting of nude youths.

Friday, 10 June 2011

Sharon Farmer was a White House photographer during both terms of the Clinton presidency. She was the first woman and first African-American to direct the office charged with chronicling nearly every second—from the mundane to the monumental—of the nation’s highest office.

Born in Washington, D.C., in 1951, Farmer was interested in photography from a young age. She discovered the power of the medium looking at pictures in her family’s encyclopedia. Farmer attended Ohio State University, intending to study bassoon. She quickly switched her major to photography and honed her skills on the staff of the yearbook.

The Associated Press hired Farmer for a photojournalism internship during her senior year. After graduation, she returned to her hometown of Washington, D.C., where she became a freelancer and photographer for album covers.

In 1993, she was hired as a White House photographer, a fast-paced job in which she used approximately 3,000 rolls of film per year and traveled the globe on a moment’s notice. In 1999, she was promoted to director of White House photography.

During her stint at the White House, Farmer captured many prominent events, including the handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and the swearing in of Nelson Mandela as the president of South Africa.

Farmer also chronicled many political races, from local to national. In 2004, she served as the head photographer for Senator John Kerry’s presidential campaign.

In addition to being featured in individual shows and group exhibitions nationwide, Farmer has lectured for
National Geographic and the Smithsonian Institution and has taught at American University. She resides in Washington, D.C.

Thursday, 9 June 2011

In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking but now, God knows, anything goes.

Cole Porter grew up wealthy - his grandfather, James Omar Cole, was a prosperous coal and timber speculator. Porter began musical training during his early childhood. Despite his musical talents, however, Porter's grandfather envisioned an attorney's career for him and sent him to YaleUniversity.

At Yale, Porter expanded his musical repertoire and composed 300 songs, including two football fight songs, "Yale Bulldog" and "Bingo Eli Yale", which are still played today. After one year at HarvardLawSchool, Porter chose to follow his true passion and transferred to Harvard's School of Music.

Porter enjoyed brief success in 1915 with his first song in a Broadway musical. A year later, his first full production, "See America First," closed after only two weeks. After several other failures, Porter moved to Paris. The songs he wrote there, including "You Don't Know Paree" and "I Love Paris", reflected his affection for the city. In 1928, his first big hit, "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love," appeared in the musical "Paris."

Porter lived in an era of strict homosexuality taboos. Public knowledge of his sexuality, Porter feared, could compromise his success. Like many gay public figures, Porter married a woman for convenience. His wife, Linda Lee Thomas, may have been bisexual. The arrangement helped both Thomas and Porter. Thomas remained a socialite with a high-profile husband, while Porter hid his sexuality under the guise of a marriage.

Porter had relationships with talented men, including Boston socialite Howard Sturgess, architect Ed Tauch and choreographer Nelson Barclift, the inspiration for "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to."

A horse riding accident in 1937 badly crippled Porter's legs. His condition left him in constant pain and required more than 30 surgeries. He continued to write songs, though his prominence waned until 1948, when he wrote "Kiss Me, Kate," one of his most famous works. The production earned the Tony Award for Best Musical, and Porter won the Tony for Best Composer and Lyricist.

His physical and emotional condition quickly deteriorated with the loss of his mother in 1952, his wife in 1954, and his amputated right leg in 1958. Porter never wrote again, and remained in relative seclusion until his own death, at age 73, in 1964.

Władysław IV Vasa (Polish: Władysław IV Waza; Lithuanian: Vladislovas IV Vaza; 9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was a Polish and Swedish prince from the House of Vasa. He reigned as King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 8 November 1632 to his death in 1648. (In 1610 the teen-aged Władysław had been elected tsar of Russia by the Seven Boyars, but had not assumed the Russian throne due to his father's opposition and a popular uprising in Russia. Nevertheless, until 1634 he used the title of Grand Duke of Muscovy).

History, like nature, likes balance. So surely that’s why Wladyslaw IV (1595-1648) , a son of the ‘king-Jesuit’ Zygmunt III, Waza, started to rule. The same-sex affairs of the king Wladyslaw IV constituted a secret for ages. But fortunately, my friend Sergiusz Wróblewski, a well-known LGBT journalist and historian from Poznan, has spent some time on revealing these interesting stories.

This is perfect story for a movie. Wladyslaw IV was very powerful gay. He was king of Poland and Sweden, he was Tsar of Russia and Great Duke of Lithuania – and he was gay. This story is very long, so I will give only the precis…..

Symbol of Warsaw is gay

Only a few people know that the Sigmund Column – a symbol of Warsaw and the oldest civic monument in the city – was erected after conflict between conservative ultra-Catholic father and his homosexual son.There is quite a lot of evidence on homosexuality of the king Władysław IV Vasa. The emotional tie linking the king’s son with Adam Kazanowski was noted by several known people at the beginning of 17th century. Kazanowski and his family benefited from it greatly. However, let’s concentrate on the Warsaw City.King Sigmund III Vasa wanted his unruly son to be his successor. I n order to facilitate his the election, he bought Bobola’s manorial estate near Krakowskie Przedmieście in Warsaw and refashioned the building into dignified residence that was donated to his son.From chronicles, it can be concluded that it was the one of the most beautiful (and the most expensive) palaces in Europe of the time. Young Wladyslaw gave it as a present to his lover Adam Kazanowski so the gift constituted beautiful expression of Wladyslaw’s love.Since that time, this building has been called Kazanowski’s Palace. When king Sigmund found out about this, he went mad. There were many conflicts between father and his son, but this was the greatest.The king ordered the sealing of the castle. Nobody could predict how this situation would have turned out (particularly Kazanowki), if the king hadn’t died suddenly.Supposedly, Wladyslaw Vasa had ‘stings of remorse’ and because of that he hadn’t reconciled before his father died. So he decided to commemorate him somehow.The idea of Column building that commemorating Zygmunt III Vasa, met with unexpected opposition. Actually nobody, with except of young ruler, wanted to realise this challenge.Polish nobles didn’t want it. And because of that they weren’t satisfied with king’s rule.The Church claimed pagan Romans had built columns and Christians should not have done it. Church resistance had greater weight because the Bernardines Monastery was the owner of the ground where the sculpture was planned to be erected.Church protests against the construction had some interesting aspects. For instance, a sculpture of the Blessed Virgin was placed to discourage the ‘king-sodomist’. However, after lots of adventures, Wladyslaw erected the Column. This is the history of Warsaw’s symbol that today is associated more with catholic conservatism than with family scandal.

Sunday, 5 June 2011

A study of the history of opinion is a necessary preliminary to the emancipation of the mind.

John Maynard Keynes founded an entire school of modern thought known as Keynesian Economics. He helped establish the Bretton Woods system in 1944, a system which oversees international money management. Keynes's ideas form a large and important part of modern macroeconomics.

Keynes attended King's College in Cambridge, England where he originally studied mathematics and philosophy, but later decided to pursue economics. After receiving his degree in 1906, Keynes moved to London and worked for the government treasury. After WWI, he attended the Paris Peace Conference. In response to the Treaty of Versailles, Keynes published "The Economic Consequences of Peace" to highlight Germany's heavy burden and the probable consequences the terms would have on Germany and the rest of the world. The book provided a brilliant analysis and Keynes subsequently influenced the Marshall plan, instituted by the U.S. to rebuild Europe following WWII.

In 1908, Keynes fell in love with Scottish painter Duncan Grant. Their relationship lasted only a few years, but they remained close friends for the rest of their lives. Previous to Keynes' marriage to Lydia Lopokova in 1921, Keynes' relationships and sexual encounters were exclusively with men. After his marriage Keynes remained friends with many of his previous homosexual friends and partners.

The stress Keynes experienced during WWII caused his health to decline considerably. On April 21, 1946, Keynes died of a heart attack.

"The only thing that can save the world is the reclaiming of the awareness of the world. That's what poetry does."

Allen Ginsberg was a revolutionary poet and committed activist. He was a leader of the Beat movement, which celebrated nonconformity and paved the way for many previously ignored poets. Ginsberg’s works captured his antiestablishment spirit and fostered social change.

He was born Irwin Allen Ginsberg and raised in Patterson, New Jersey. His father, Louis, was a successful poet who walked around the house reciting poetry. His mother suffered from paranoia and was in and out of mental hospitals. Three years after her death, Ginsberg wrote "Kaddish for Naomi Ginsberg" (1961), which is considered one of his finest works.

Ginsberg attended Columbia University, where he received a B.A. in 1948. The next year, he met Carl Solomon, whom he credited with "deepening his understanding of poetry and its power as a weapon of political dissent." His most celebrated poem, "Howl!" (1956), was dedicated to Solomon. Ginsberg was tried and acquitted of obscenity charges partially related to the poem’s homoerotic content. A judge found that the poem had "redeeming social importance," making "Howl!" a reference case for free-speech advocates.

Ginsberg is credited with coining the term "flower power," which encouraged protesters to engage in nonviolent rebellion. Once kicked out of Cuba for saying Che Guevara was "cute," Ginsberg was dubbed a social bandit. His frank writing about homosexuality made an important contribution to gay rights.

In 1954, Ginsberg met the man who would become his life partner, Peter Orlovsky. Like Ginsberg, Orlovsky was an American poet and experienced the mental illness of a family member. Their 43-year relationship ended with Ginsberg’s death in 1997.

Ginsberg’s honors include a National Book Award, a Robert Frost Medal for distinguished poetic achievement and an American Book Award for contributions to literary excellence. In 1987, he was named a distinguished professor at Brooklyn College, where he taught English and creative writing. In 1993, the French minister of culture awarded Ginsberg the Order of Arts and Letters.

"The only thing that can save the world is the reclaiming of the awareness of the world. That's what poetry does."

Allen Ginsberg was a revolutionary poet and committed activist. He was a leader of the Beat movement, which celebrated nonconformity and paved the way for many previously ignored poets. Ginsberg’s works captured his antiestablishment spirit and fostered social change.

He was born Irwin Allen Ginsberg and raised in Patterson, New Jersey. His father, Louis, was a successful poet who walked around the house reciting poetry. His mother suffered from paranoia and was in and out of mental hospitals. Three years after her death, Ginsberg wrote "Kaddish for Naomi Ginsberg" (1961), which is considered one of his finest works.

Ginsberg attended Columbia University, where he received a B.A. in 1948. The next year, he met Carl Solomon, whom he credited with "deepening his understanding of poetry and its power as a weapon of political dissent." His most celebrated poem, "Howl!" (1956), was dedicated to Solomon. Ginsberg was tried and acquitted of obscenity charges partially related to the poem’s homoerotic content. A judge found that the poem had "redeeming social importance," making "Howl!" a reference case for free-speech advocates.

Ginsberg is credited with coining the term "flower power," which encouraged protesters to engage in nonviolent rebellion. Once kicked out of Cuba for saying Che Guevara was "cute," Ginsberg was dubbed a social bandit. His frank writing about homosexuality made an important contribution to gay rights.

In 1954, Ginsberg met the man who would become his life partner, Peter Orlovsky. Like Ginsberg, Orlovsky was an American poet and experienced the mental illness of a family member. Their 43-year relationship ended with Ginsberg’s death in 1997.

Ginsberg’s honors include a National Book Award, a Robert Frost Medal for distinguished poetic achievement and an American Book Award for contributions to literary excellence. In 1987, he was named a distinguished professor at Brooklyn College, where he taught English and creative writing. In 1993, the French minister of culture awarded Ginsberg the Order of Arts and Letters.